Aquatic plants are a necessary component to a pond. However, too many aquatic plants can be aesthetically displeasing or even limit recreational use of the water. Here is a prime example of how aquatic plants get into your beautiful, weed free farm pond. This little turtle is out for a walk, probably making its way from one pond and heading to the next. This little guy is covered in duckweed and watermeal. Once this turtle enters the new pond, this pond will now be infected with both Duckweed and Watermeal.

Duckweed and Watermeal are very small floating green plants that can reproduce very rapidly if not treated. Duckweed is often mistaken for algae. It may have a tiny ‘roots’ extending from the underside of the plant. Watermeal is the smallest of the flowering plants and generally very difficult to control. It often coexists with duckweed. Watermeal shows no visible roots and often look like green corn meal.

Many ways that floating plants get into your pond would be through other pond wildlife, roaming animals or waterfowl. Submerged plants can also get into your pond the same way or be washed into the pond. If you have a lot of run off from fertilizers, this can also cause an imbalance of phosphorus and other nutrient levels. Also, if you have rotting vegetation in the pond this will increase the nutrient levels in the pond.

Like Algae, Watermeal and Duckweed thrive in nutrient rich waters. If you have either of these aquatic plants in your pond, we recommend using the PONDRestore® Kit, with the herbicide Fluridone or the PONDRestore® Watermeal kit that has the herbicide Clipper. Both kits contain Mizzen® Algaecide for treating a wide variety of algae, Sapphire Bay® Blue Pond Dye, and a nutrient reducer SparKlear®. By using Lake Restoration’s complete pond kit, you will get rid of the unwanted aquatic plants and your pond will find balance.